Once upon a time, in land far, far away…just kidding, we met on a dating app.

While neither of us necessarily recommend using dating apps to find your spouse (we would primarily recommend dating within your church) we actually met on a Christian dating app called Upward. Both of us desired marriage but neither of us had any like-minded believers we were interested in dating in our community. We both approached it in the same way: we saw the app as a tool to try and find a godly like-minded believer to date with the intention of marriage.

{ Joey }
I was so ready to delete the app (...again! haha). I was so tired of endlessly swiping through profiles that lacked a genuine display of Christlikeness and were void of a desire to pursue godliness. It was honestly sad to me how few women actually talked about their faith in Jesus and how their faith affected how they lived.

But then...one day I found one woman whose profile stood head and shoulders far above the rest!

I was stunned.

Here was a woman that, first of all, was absolutely gorgeous! I couldnt stop going back to look at her picture! ( ^the one above^ ). Secondly, what she wrote about herself had me hooked! She showed a clear dedication to knowing the God of the Bible and living out her faith. And she backed that up with pictures of her with faithful pastors and bible teachers that I greatly respect. To top it all off she lived nearby! Here was a woman I HAD to meet! I was STOKED to see we matched and couldnt wait to get to know her more so I didnt waste much time after beginning a conversation with her and asked for her number so I could call her to set up a date!

But then I got denied...

She wouldnt give me her number! But she was willing to continue talking on the app, and I was more than willing to try to exercise my patience to get to know this woman! Thanks be to God, the patience proved successful and I got her number after about another week of texting and we set up our first date!

{ Heather }
I was a bit nervous about dating again and unsure whether using Upward to find my future husband was the right approach. However, I decided to give it a shot. When Joey and I matched, I was really impressed with his bio and the message he sent. It was clear to me that he knew what he believed and was actively involved in his local church. We shared the same political values, believed in the same biblical doctrine, and he was seeking a relationship with marriage as the ultimate goal.

I was excited when he asked for my number but felt it was too soon. I wanted to continue getting to know him through the app before exchanging numbers. What really stood out to me, and made me even more attracted, was that Joey was not deterred. He wanted me to feel comfortable and respected my decision. Instead of pressuring me to give him my number, he continued to get to know me via the app and patiently waited a week before asking again. By that point, I was ready to share my number, and I felt relieved when he suggested setting up a call that evening after work, instead of asking for a date over text. I was even more pleasantly surprised that we seemed to hit it off during our first phone call conversation and talked for nearly 3 hours about everything under the sun!

During our first phone call, Joey asked if I’d like to go on a date with him at Carrabba’s in Lexington, followed by a breakout game. He was incredibly chivalrous, opening every door for me and paying for dinner. We had such a great time together!

[ Joey }
So good in fact that Heather decided to tell me she was vegan and pretended to be outraged when I ordered meat and asked me why I hated animals...even though she isnt a vegan and was kidding to break the ice.

{ Heather }
We ended up talking so much at Carrabba’s that we missed our escape room reservation and stayed until after they closed! It felt like time flew by without us even noticing, and we were both surprised at how easy it was to talk to each other.

After a handful of dates and meeting each other’s friends, Joey invited me to play pickleball with some of his friends one Saturday afternoon. I’d never played before, so I felt a little out of place, but I said I'd enjoy sitting and watching him play. While sitting there, I got a phone call…one of my closest elderly friends, who had always called me her adopted granddaughter, had passed away. I tried to maintain composure, but I was heartbroken and spent the rest of the afternoon blinking back tears while still trying to enjoy the company of his friends and engage in conversations. When we got back in the car to head to lunch with his friends, Joey asked if I was okay because I looked sad. He gently asked who I’d been talking to on the phone while watching him play. I tried to explain, but I couldn’t hold it together and began to cry. He held me softly and said he was sorry for my loss. Once I calmed down, we talked for a bit, and then Joey texted his friends to let them know we wouldn't be coming to lunch. Then, with so much kindness in his eyes, he asked, 'I’ve been wanting to ask you this for a while, and I think today is a good day to ask and help make you happy...will you be my girlfriend?' Through my tears, I nodded and said "I’d like that." He then asked if he could give me a kiss, and I said yes to that too.

After dating for about 6 or 7 months, Joey asked me if I'd be willing to begin working through a Pre-Engagement article with him to see if we were ready to enter into the next phase of our relationship. We spent many afternoons talking through a variety of topics and learning more about each others views on marriage, parenting, finances, life goals, and world views! It was such a sweet time of bonding and learning about one another. We would both highly recommend dating couples do the same!

For inquiring minds:
https://kingscrossdefiance.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/03/Should-We-Get-Married-David-Powlison.pdf

On October 15th, 2024 Joey planned a perfect day in Florida, based on what I thought was just a fun question he had nonchalantly asked me a few months prior: What's your idea of a perfect day? I casually answered that part of it would be walking to a pier on the beach and buying a bracelet from a surf shop. Little did I know, he was going to make that fun question a reality!

He flew us to Navarre Florida and asked me if I wanted to walk to the pier before going to dinner. He also strategically planned to finish our pre-engagement counseling on the way.
When we made it to the pier, he said Remember your idea of a perfect day? You walked to the pier and bought a bracelet? Well, I got you a bracelet. Then, he pulled a bracelet out of his pocket, and it said, “Marry me?”
After that, he got down on one knee and officially asked me to marry him. I said, "Of course!"